Skyrunning in details

Skyrunning is a sport that can be described as speed climbing and high-altitude running. This sport is competitive, the competitions are held under the rules of the International Federation of Skyrunning. According to the rules, the competitions are held on the mountains at least 2000 meters high with a minimum average gradient of 6% and necessarily including sections with a 30% gradient.

General information

Skyrunning is a high-speed running race in the mountains, which takes place at an altitude of 2,000 meters and above and has its own clear criteria:

• The elevation gradients must be more than 1,000 meters;
• The gradient of the trail must be 6% to 40%;
• Sections of the course with a 30% slope must be greater than 5%;
• The number of asphalt parts of the course must not exceed 15%;
• The terrain must not be more difficult than the 2nd category of difficulty according to the mountaineering classification.

Differences from other disciplines

Skyrunning is a type of mountain running, but it is not mountain running! It sounds confusing and illogical. Now we will try to clarify the situation by enumerating the peculiarities of these disciplines.

Peculiarities of skyrunning:

• The track has up to 15% asphalt pavement;
• The track is difficult, not always suitable for running and walking;
• This sport is included into alpinism and mountain climbing;
• Races take place at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level, with an obligatory elevation difference of 1000 meters.

Peculiarities of mountain running:

• There can be up to 20% asphalt surface;
• The track is constructed specially for the race, it is fully adapted for running;
• This is a running discipline;
• Races are held at the altitude up to 2000 m, altitude difference is not required.

Skyrunning is also quite different from trail running. Why?

Peculiarities of trail running:

• There are no elevation requirements, the competition may not take place in the mountains;
• The trail does not have to cover any peaks, even if the race is held in the mountains;
• This is a running discipline.

What these two disciplines have in common is the heavy trail, as well as the need for auxiliary equipment. The course in both cases may include temperature extremes, icy pavement, snow, and the need for insurance poles. However, skyrunning is always an uphill climb to the highest point!

Skyrunning disciplines

Skyrunning is a term that can be applied to different competitive disciplines. What are they?

• SkyRace is a classic skyrunning race. The competitions are defined by a minimum distance of 20 kilometers and a vertical climb of 1300 meters.
• SkyMarathon is a race with a minimum distance of 30 kilometers and a minimum climb of 2000 meters. The winner’s time in the marathon must not exceed five hours. If the distance and climb exceeds these parameters, the competition is reclassified as a high-altitude ultramarathon.
• Ultramarathons in ski running are races between 50 and 99 kilometers with a minimum vertical climb of 3,200 m or a maximum finish time of 16 hours for the winner.
• Vertical Kilometer is a race where the vertical ascent over the entire distance is 1000 meters. It is at these races that the gradient is the most significant, as the vertical kilometer participants must gain over a very short distance: no more than 5 km in length. The minimum average gradient in the uphill race is 20%.
• Vertical running is often a run up and down stairs in high-rise buildings. In such races, the gradient is over 45% and the minimum vertical climb should not be less than 100 meters.
• SkyBike (also referred to as high-rise duathlon) involves not only climbing a vertical kilometer or other relatively short high-altitude race, but also riding a mountain bike.
• SkyRaid is a long-distance team race, and it is interesting primarily because the athletes are free to combine running with other sports, such as skiing, climbing, cycling, etc.

Training

Strength of legs, back and abs is extremely important in skyrunning, because steep climbs are not a rare nuisance on the trail, but a constant inevitability. Knowing how to run uphill is not enough. You need to be able and not afraid to run downhill, and by the way, it is not always possible to run uphill, and then the Skyrunner switches to a step that looks like this: the body moves forward, the hands rest just above the knees and in this position, you make a wide step up the mountain.

Since skyrunners are mountain climbers, they also need to acclimatize in the mountains. For example, an international festival of mountain extreme sports Red Fox Elbrus Race takes place in Elbrus region and includes in its program SkyMarathon-Mt Elbrus marathon, where Skyrunners make a high-speed ascent to the Western top of Elbrus from a height of 2350 meters above sea level to a height of 5642 meters. It should be noted that at the altitude of 5,000 meters the atmospheric pressure almost halves, and a person begins to have an acute mountain sickness. The symptoms are: disorders of breathing rhythm, nausea, vomiting, moodiness and apathy.

Such high-speed climbs require a whole set of “non-running” equipment. For some races, participants are required to have carabiners, folding knives, an ice-axe, a helmet, a lanyard, goggles with maximum protection against ultraviolet light, etc. It is better to choose telescopic poles, because they are easily foldable, and you can attach them to your backpack when the terrain allows not using them.

Every skier has sneakers with aggressive tread or even with metal spikes for running on the ice sections. The choice of equipment depends on the conditions in which the race will take place.

Dangers

Skyrunning is characterized by a high level of injury risk. For example, during the Tromsø SkyRace that took place in Norway in 2017, the professional skyrunner Hillary Allen fell from a ridge at an altitude of 3,500 meters and flew 20 meters, then ricocheted off the slope and flew another 30 meters to a complete stop. The fall left Allen severely injured, which did not prevent her from returning to competition after her recovery.

History

The first mountain run was organized by an Italian mountaineer named Marino Giacometti. He and his group conquered the peaks of Monte Rosa and Mont Blanc in the Alps back in the early 1990s. Such an event could not go unnoticed by the famous sports company Fila. The organizers immediately picked up the idea, organizing a series of speed races to the summits of the Himalaya, the Mexican volcanoes. This boom in the first popularity of skyrunning dates back to 1993.

In 1995, Giacometti decided that this particular sport needed a controlling authority. He organized the Federation of High Altitude Sports (FSA). In 1996 the official name of the discipline appeared.  After 12 years, the FSA was replaced by another organization, the International Skyranning Federation (ISF), under the leadership of the UIAA.

Today, the statistics is impressive. There are 18 organizing countries and more than 60 countries taking part in the competitions. There are more than 200 available races, each of them having different levels of difficulty.

As you can see, skyrunning is a tricky discipline that requires a lot of persistence in training, experience and strength. This sport has many followers all over the world, and is gaining more and more popularity.